Systems and methods for determining cost of insurance rates

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments, a current net amount at risk associated with a life insurance policy is determined. The life insurance policy may, for example, have been previously issued to a consumer for a given face death benefit amount. At least one applicable cost of insurance rate may then be automatically selected based at least in part on the determined net amount at risk. The applicable cost of insurance rate can then be applied to the current net amount at risk for the policy. For example, a first cost of insurance rate may be applied to a first portion of the current net amount at risk, and the applicable cost of insurance rate may be applied to a second portion of the current net amount at risk.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/142,295 entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING COSTOF INSURANCE RATES” and filed Jun. 19, 2008 (pending). The entirecontents of that application are incorporated herein by references.

BACKGROUND

Certain types of life insurance products have a cash “account value,”and a consumer may have some ability to access that value and to try toincrease that value. Consider, for example, a variable universal lifeinsurance policy issued to a consumer for a given death benefit amountof $100,000. Over the life of the policy, he or she may make periodic,variable premium payments that are invested in investment options that,in turn, invest in mutual funds. In this case, the timing and amount ofpayments that have been made by the consumer and the performance of theinvestment options will, in part, determine the current cash accountvalue associated with the policy.

The difference between the death benefit amount and the current accountvalue of a life insurance policy is referred to as the Net Amount atRisk (“NAR”). For example, a life insurance policy with a given deathbenefit amount of $100,000 and a current account value of $30,000 has a$70,000 net amount at risk. That is, if the consumer dies at that pointin time, an additional $70,000 needs to be paid by the insurance companyin addition to the current account value in order to satisfy the deathbenefit amount.

To cover this risk, the insurance company applies a Cost Of Insurance(“COI”) charge to the net amount at risk, typically on a monthly basis.For example, the insurance company might apply a yearly cost ofinsurance charge that is calculated by multiplying the current netamount at risk by a cost of insurance rate associated with the policy(e.g., 1.10 per $1,000 at risk).

A single cost of insurance rate is typically applied to the entire netamount at risk each time the cost of insurance charge is applied(although the rate applied will depend on, for example, the duration ofthe policy, the consumer's age, and/or whether or not he or she smokescigarettes). Note, however, that consumers who accumulate lower currentcash account values (and thus have an increased net amount at risk) maypose more of a financial risk to an insurance company as compared toconsumers who accumulate higher current cash account values. Since asingle cost of insurance rate is applied to the entire net amount atrisk, those consumers who accumulate higher current cash account valuesdo not benefit from this lower level of financial risk. Moreover, theinsurance company's ability to motivate consumers to increase theircurrent cash account values may be limited.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is block diagram of an insurance system according to someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method according to some embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating insurance amounts in accordance with someembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates some typical insurance policy charges.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating some potential cost of insurance rates inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating applied cost of insurance rates for agiven life insurance policy in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating cost of insurance rates in accordancewith another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating cost of insurance rates in accordancewith still another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating multiple cost of insurance rate tiers inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating potential cost of insurance rates inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating threshold amounts in accordance withsome embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an insurance apparatus in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a tabular view of a portion of an insurance informationdatabase in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a tabular view of a system in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to some embodiments, a current total net amount at risk isdetermined in connection with a life insurance policy previously issuedto a consumer based on the current death benefit amount and cash value.At least one cost of insurance rate is then automatically selected basedat least in part on the determined net amount at risk. The selected costof insurance rate(s) may then be applied to the net amount at riskcurrently associated with the consumer's life insurance policy. Forexample, according to some embodiments, a cost of insurance charge maybe periodically calculated by (i) multiplying a first portion of thecurrent net amount at risk by a first cost of insurance rate and (ii)multiplying a second portion of the current net amount at risk by theautomatically selected cost of insurance rate, wherein the automaticallyselected cost of insurance rate is different than the first cost ofinsurance rate

Other embodiments include: means for determining a death benefit amountassociated with an existing life insurance policy previously issued to aconsumer; means for determining a current account value associated withthe life insurance policy, the current account value being based atleast in part on consumer payment amounts and market performance; meansfor calculating a current net amount at risk by subtracting the currentaccount value from the death benefit amount; means for dynamicallydetermining at least one cost of insurance tier based on the current netamount at risk; and means for calculating a cost of insurance amount by(i) multiplying a portion of the net amount at risk by a rate associatedwith the selected cost of insurance tier, and (ii) multiplying anotherportion by a different rate.

In some embodiments, a communication device associated with an automatedinsurance processing platform exchanges information with remote devices.The information may be exchanged, for example, via public and/orproprietary communication networks.

A technical effect of some embodiments of the invention is an improvedand automated life insurance system and product for consumers andissuers. With this and other advantages and features that will becomehereinafter apparent, a more complete understanding of the nature of theinvention can be obtained by referring to the following detaileddescription and to the drawings appended hereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is block diagram of an insurance system 100 according to someembodiments of the present invention. The system 100 may, for example,facilitate the design and/or administration of life insurance products.According to some embodiments, an “automated” insurance processingplatform 110 may be provided. As used herein the term “automated”indicates that at least some part of a step associated with a process orservice is performed with little or no human intervention. By way ofexamples only, the platform 110 may be associated and/or communicatewith a Personal Computer (PC), an enterprise server, a database farm,and/or a consumer device. The automated insurance processing platform110 may, according to some embodiments, select, determine, and/or adjustcost of insurance rates associated with life insurance policies.

The automated insurance processing platform 110 may access informationin one or more databases 120. The databases 120 may include, forexample, information about insurance polices that have been issued (orthat are being offered) to consumers. The automated insurance processingplatform 110 might access the databases 120 via a communication network.These devices (and any of the other devices described herein) could beassociated with, for example, a server, a PC, a mobile or laptopcomputer, or any other appropriate storage and/or communication deviceto exchange information via a web site and/or a communication network.As used herein, devices (including those associated with the automatedinsurance processing platform 110, the databases 120, and any otherdevice described herein) may exchange information via any communicationnetwork, such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network(MAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a proprietary network, a PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)network, a Bluetooth network, a wireless LAN network, and/or an InternetProtocol (IP) network such as the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet.Note that any devices described herein may communicate via one or moresuch communication networks.

The automated insurance processing platform 110 and/or databases 120may, according to some embodiments, be accessible via a Graphical UserInterface (GUI). The GUI might be used, for example, to dynamicallydisplay existing insurance policy information, to receive new insurancepolicy information, and/or to associate one or more cost of insurancerates with an existing or proposed policy.

Although a single automated insurance processing platform 110 anddatabase 120 are shown in FIG. 1, any number of such devices may beincluded. Moreover, various devices described herein might be combinedaccording to embodiments of the present invention. For example, in someembodiments, the automated insurance processing platform 110 anddatabase 120 might be co-located and/or may comprise a single apparatus.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method that might be performed, for example, bysome or all of the elements of the system 100 described with respect toFIG. 1 according to some embodiments. The flow charts described hereindo not imply a fixed order to the steps, and embodiments of the presentinvention may be practiced in any order that is practicable. Note thatany of the methods described herein may be performed by hardware,software, or any combination of these approaches. For example, acomputer-readable storage medium may store thereon instructions thatwhen executed by a machine result in performance according to any of theembodiments described herein.

At 202, a net amount at risk currently associated with an existing lifeinsurance policy is determined. The life insurance policy may be, forexample, a variable universal life insurance policy previously issued toa consumer for a given face death benefit amount. In this case, anaccount value currently associated with the policy may be determined(e.g., based on his or her investments) and the difference between thataccount value and the given face death benefit amount may represent thenew amount at risk.

The determination of the net amount at risk may be performed on aperiodic basis. For example, the net amount at risk might be determinedon a yearly basis while the policy is in effect. By way of example, FIG.3 is a graph 300 illustrating the relationship between a given deathbenefit amount 310, a current account value 320, and the net amount atrisk 330 for a particular year Y.

The issuer of a life insurance policy may periodically apply chargesbased on, for example, the given death benefit amount 310, the currentaccount value 320, and/or the net amount at risk 330 associated with thepolicy. For example, FIG. 4 illustrates some typical insurance policycharges 400 including an administration charge 410, a commission charge420, and a Cost Of Insurance (“COI”) charge 430.

The cost of insurance charge may be determined, in some case, bymultiplying the current net amount at risk 330 for a policy by a cost ofinsurance rate. For example, if a policy has a net amount at risk of$50,000 and the applicable cost of insurance rate is 1.1%, then a costof insurance charge of $550 might be applied to the insurance policy.

At 204, at least one cost of insurance rate is automatically selected tobe applied to the net amount at risk currently associated with theconsumer's life insurance policy. Moreover, the selection of the rate isbased at least in part on the determined net amount at risk. Note that acost of insurance rate different than the applicable cost of insurancerate may be applied to one portion of the net amount at risk (e.g., anamount below a threshold value) while the applicable cost of insurancerate is applied to a remaining portion (e.g., an amount above athreshold value). Similarly, the number of cost of insurance rates thatare applied may increase as the number of insurance “tiers” areincreased. According to some embodiments, an indication of one or moreapplicable cost of insurance rate are transmitted (e.g., to a remoteagent device, the consumer, and/or a storage device).

Consider, by way of example, FIG. 5 which is a graph 500 illustratingsome potential cost of insurance rates in accordance with someembodiments of the invention. In this case, an original or initial rateR1 is used to calculate a yearly cost of insurance amount associatedwith life insurance policy during an initial period 510. For example,rate R1 might be used for the first ten years of a thirty year lifeinsurance policy. According to some embodiments, there is no initialperiod during which a constant cost of insurance rate is applied.

After the initial period 510, it is determined if the policy meets oneor more requirements to qualify for a reduced cost of insurance rate R2(as illustrated by solid line 510). If not, the initial rate cost ofinsurance R1 is used (as illustrated by dashed line 520). For example,the reduced rate R2 may be used for polices that have a current netamount at risk below a pre-determined threshold value (e.g., below$50,000). That is, the cost of insurance rate (for a fixed death benefitamount) is determined based at least in part on the net amount at riskand/or the current account value of the insurance policy.

According to some embodiments, the determination at 204 is performedperiodically, after the initial period 510, while the policy is ineffect. Note that depending the threshold values, the consumers premiumpayments, and the performance of his or her investments in themarketplace, a policy might qualify for the reduced cost of insurancerate in some years but fail to qualify in other years. For example, FIG.6 is a graph 600 illustrating applied cost of insurance rates (solidline 61) for a given life insurance policy in accordance with someembodiments of the invention. In this case, the policy qualified for thereduced cost of insurance rate R2 in years Y1 and Y4 but not in years Y2or Y3.

By selecting a cost of insurance rate based on the net amount at riskand/or the current account value of the policy, consumers who accumulatehigher current cash account values may benefit from the lower risk theypose to the insurance company (e.g., because they are able to takeadvantage of the reduced rate R2). Moreover, the approach may help aninsurance company motivate consumers to increase their current cashaccount values (and thus reduce the net amount at risk) by increasingpremium payments and/or by improving the performance of theirinvestments.

The structures shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are for illustration only, and anynumber of other arrangements might be provided. For example, FIG. 7 is agraph 700 illustrating cost of insurance rates in accordance withanother embodiment of the invention. In this case, it is determinedafter an initial period whether an original cost of insurance rate R1will be continued (as illustrated by dashed line 710) or whether anincreased cost of insurance rate will be applied (as illustrated by soldline 720). As yet another example, FIG. 8 is a graph 800 illustratinghow an initial cost of insurance rate R1 may be adjusted either down (torate R2 as illustrated by the solid line 810) or up (to rate R3 asillustrated by the dashed line 820) depending on the net amount at riskassociated with the policy.

According to some embodiments, the determination of a cost of insurancerate performed at 204 comprises selecting an applicable cost ofinsurance rate from a pair of potential cost of insurance rates (e.g., afirst tier may be applied when the net amount at risk is less than athreshold amount while a second tier is applied when the net amount atrisk is greater than the threshold amount). Note, however, that anynumber of potential rates may be employed in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention. For example, FIG. 9 is a graph 900illustrating four cost of insurance rate tiers (e.g., associated withrates R1 through R4) in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention. Also note that various tiers might be equal to, greater than,or less than an original cost of insurance rate associated with the lifeinsurance policy. Moreover, more than one threshold amount might be usedto select the appropriate tier.

According to some embodiments, a formula or rule might be used todynamically calculate a cost of insurance based on the net amount atrisk. That is, there might not be a discrete set of pre-determined rates(from which one is selected). According to some embodiments, a maximumand/or minimum cost of insurance rate may be provided. FIG. 10 is agraph 1000 illustrating an area 1010 representing possible cost ofinsurance rates in accordance with some embodiments of the invention. Inthis case, the cost of insurance rate might be calculated using aformula (having the current net amount at risk as an input) such thatthe rate will be between R2 and R3.

According to some embodiments, selecting the applicable cost ofinsurance rate includes selecting a rate associated with a first tierwhen the current net amount at risk exceeds a threshold amount. Forexample, the first tier might be applicable when the net amount at riskexceeds $50,000. Note that selections may be performed on a periodicbasis (e.g., yearly) and that selections for different periods could beassociated with different threshold amounts. By way of example, FIG. 11is a graph 1100 illustrating threshold amounts 1110 in accordance withsome embodiments of the invention. In this case, the net amount at riskamount that would result in an alternate cost of insurance rate beingselected decreases over the life of the policy (after an initialperiod). One or more additional sets of threshold amounts 1120 mightalso be used, such as when a cost of insurance rate is selected fromamong a set of three potential rate tiers.

According to some embodiments, more than one cost of insurance rate isused to calculate a charge for a life insurance policy in a given year.For example, a cost of insurance charge might be calculated by (i)multiplying a first portion of the current net amount at risk by a firstcost of insurance rate and (ii) multiplying a second portion of thecurrent net amount at risk by a second cost of insurance rate, thesecond rate being different from the first rate.

Consider the following example, where Tier1COI_(t) represents a cost ofinsurance rate at time t for a first net amount at risk tier andTier2COI_(t) represents a cost of insurance rate at time t for a firstsecond amount at risk tier. Moreover, Tier1NAR_(t) represents the totalnet amount at risk at time t for which the Tier1COI_(t) rate will beapplicable and Tier2NAR_(t) represents the total net amount at risk attime t for which the Tier2COI_(t) rate will be applicable. In additionTier1Ratio_(t) represents an amount by which a given death benefitamount will be multiplied in order to determine the Tier1NAR_(t) for thepolicy. The following calculations may then be performed according tosome embodiments:NAR_(t)=DeathBenefit_(t)−CurrentAccountValue_(t)Tier1NAR_(t)=MIN(NAR_(t),Tier1Ratio_(t)×DeathBenefit_(t))Tier2NAR_(t)=NAR_(t)−Tier1NAR_(t)COICharge_(t)=(Tier1COI_(t)×Tier1NAR_(t))+(Tier2COI_(t)×Tier2NAR_(t))

By way of example only, consider a life insurance policy have a deathbenefit of $100,000 and a current account value of $20,000. In addition,the policy is designed with a first tier rate of 0.85 per $1,000 (or0.00085 per $1) and a second tier rate of 1.10 per $1,000 (or 0.00110per $1). As a result of the above equations, the current net amount atrisk (NAR_(t)) would be $80,000. If we assume that a Tier1Ratio_(t) of81% is used, then Tier1NAR_(t) will be $80,000 (representing the lesserof (i) NAR_(t), or $80,000 and (ii) Tier1Ratio_(t) multiplied by thedeath benefit amount, or $81,000). Moreover Tier2NAR_(t) will be zero(NAR_(t)−Tier1NAR_(t)) and the calculated COICharge_(t) will be(0.00085×$80,000+0.00110*$0)=$68.

Now consider the same policy with a current account value of $10,000.The current net amount at risk (NAR_(t)) would be $90,000 andTier1NAR_(t) will be $81,000 (representing the lesser of (i) NAR_(t), or$90,000 and (ii) Tier1Ratio_(t) multiplied by the death benefit amount,or $81,000). Moreover Tier2NAR_(t) will be $9,000 (NAR_(t)−Tier1NAR_(t))and the calculated COICharge_(t) will be(0.00085×$81,000+0.00110*$9,000)=$78.75.

The particular values and structures disclosed herein are provided onlyas examples, and any number of other arrangements might be set forth ina predetermined contractual agreement between a consumer and an insurerat the time a life insurance policy is issued. Note that according tosome embodiments, the determined cost of insurance rate is used toautomatically calculate a charge to be applied to the consumer's policy.Moreover, a determined cost of insurance rate might be disclosed and/ordisplayed to a consumer (e.g., an applied rate might be included in abilling statement or a predicted rate might be provided in connection aninsurance product offer or example).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an insurance apparatus 1200 in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus 1200might, for example, comprise a platform or engine similar to theautomated insurance processing platform 110 illustrated in FIG. 1. Theapparatus 1200 comprises a processor 1210, such as one or more INTEL®Pentium® processors, coupled to a communication device 1220 configuredto communicate via a communication network (not shown in FIG. 12). Thecommunication device 1220 may be used to exchange insurance policyinformation, for example, with one or more remote devices.

The processor 1210 is also in communication with an input device 1240.The input device 1240 may comprise, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, orcomputer media reader. Such an input device 1240 may be used, forexample, to enter information about existing or proposed life insurancepolices and associated cost of insurance rate tiers. The processor 1210is also in communication with an output device 1250. The output device1250 may comprise, for example, a display screen or printer. Such anoutput device 1250 may be used, for example, to provide reports and/ordisplay information associated with life insurance polices andassociated cost of insurance rate tiers.

The processor 1210 is also in communication with a storage device 1230.The storage device 1230 may comprise any appropriate information storagedevice, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., harddisk drives), optical storage devices, and/or semiconductor memorydevices such as Random Access Memory (RAM) devices and Read Only Memory(ROM) devices.

The storage device 1230 stores a program 1215 for controlling theprocessor 1210. The processor 1210 performs instructions of the program1215, and thereby operates in accordance any embodiments of the presentinvention described herein. For example, the processor 1210 maydetermine a death benefit amount associated with an existing lifeinsurance policy previously issued to a consumer. The processor 1210 mayalso determine a current account value associated with the lifeinsurance policy, the current account value being based at least in parton consumer payment amounts and market performance. Moreover, theprocessor 1210 may calculate a current net amount at risk (e.g., bysubtracting the current account value from the death benefit amount),and dynamically determine at least one cost of insurance tier based onthe current net amount at risk. A cost of insurance amount may then becalculated by the processor 1210 by multiplying at least a portion ofthe net amount at risk by a rate associated with the selected cost ofinsurance tier. According to some embodiments, the processor 1210calculates the appropriate cost of insurance charge by (i) multiplying afirst portion of the net amount at risk by the rate associated with theselected cost of insurance tier and (ii) multiplying a second portion ofthe current net amount at risk by a different rate.

As used herein, information may be “received” by or “transmitted” to,for example: (i) the insurance apparatus 1200 from other devices; or(ii) a software application or module within the insurance apparatus1200 from another software application, module, or any other source.

As shown in FIG. 12, the storage device 1230 also stores an insuranceinformation database 1300. One example of such a database 1300 that maybe used in connection with the insurance apparatus 1200 will now bedescribed in detail with respect to FIG. 13. The illustration andaccompanying descriptions of the database presented herein areexemplary, and any number of other database arrangements could beemployed besides those suggested by the figures. For example, differentdatabases associated with different types of policies or consumers mightbe associated with the apparatus 1300.

FIG. 13 is a tabular view of a portion of an insurance informationdatabase 1300 in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. The table includes entries different insurance policies thathave been issued to consumers. The table also defines fields 1302, 1304,1306, 1308, 1310 for each of the entries. The fields specify: a policyidentifier 1302, a face amount 1304, a current account value 1306, acurrent net amount at risk 1308, and a selected cost of insurance tier1310. The information in the database 1300 may be periodically createdand updated based on information associated with a consumer's lifeinsurance policy.

The policy identifier 1302 may be, for example, an alphanumeric codeassociated with an existing life insurance policy that has been issuedto a consumer. The face amount 1304 may represent a given death benefitamount associated with the policy. The current account value 1306 mayrepresent the current cash value associated with that policy (e.g.,based on premiums paid by the consumer and the performance ofinvestments that he or she has made). The current net amount at risk1308 for the policy may be determined, for example, by subtracting thecurrent account value 1306 from the face amount 1304. Note thatdifferent types of life insurance policies may be associated with otheror additional values (e.g., some types of policies may be associatedwith a face or base amount plus a current account value). The selectedcost of insurance tier 1310 may be determined at least in part on thecurrent net amount at risk 1308 and may be used to calculate a charge tobe applied to the policy. Note that more than one cost of insurance ratemay be used to calculate a cost of insurance charge. For example, a“tier 1” rate might be applied for a portion of a net amount at risk upto a threshold value while a “tier 2” rate might be applied for theremaining portion of the net amount at risk (e.g., the portion above thethreshold value).

FIG. 14 is a tabular view of a system 1400 in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. The system 1400 includes a pricingplatform 1410 that may receive data from a remote aggregate insuranceinformation device 1420. The aggregate insurance information device 1420may, for example, be associated with a database farm storing informationabout thousands of life insurance policies (e.g., including informationabout individual policies and/or information about groups of policies).The pricing platform 1410 may, for example, determine appropriate costof insurance rate tiers for new life insurance policies and/or whichtiers are applicable to existing life insurance polices. The pricingplatform 1410 may further transmit an indication associated with one ormore selected cost of insurance rates to remote agent devices 1430and/or remote customer devices (not illustrated in FIG. 14). The pricingplatform 1410, aggregate insurance information device 1420, and/or agentdevices 1430 may communicate, for example, via one or more communicationnetworks.

As a result of the embodiments described herein, consumers whoaccumulate higher current cash account values may benefit from the lowerrisk they pose to the insurance company (e.g., because they are able totake advantage of reduced rates). Moreover, the approach may help aninsurance company motivate consumers to increase their current cashaccount values (and thus reduce the net amount at risk) by increasingpremium payments and/or by improving the performance of theirinvestments.

The following illustrates various additional embodiments of theinvention. These do not constitute a definition of all possibleembodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand that thepresent invention is applicable to many other embodiments. Further,although the following embodiments are briefly described for clarity,those skilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, ifnecessary, to the above-described apparatus and methods to accommodatethese and other embodiments and applications.

Although specific hardware and data configurations have been describedherein, not that any number of other configurations may be provided inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention (e.g., some of theinformation associated with the databases described herein may becombined or stored in external systems). For example, data associatedwith a financial services enterprise (e.g., banking or tradinginformation associated with investments made by a consumer in connectionwith his or her life insurance policy) might be received by an automatedinsurance platform and then used to automatically select an appropriatecost of insurance rate in accordance with any of the embodimentsdescribed herein. Moreover, although examples of specific types of costof insurance tiers have been used, embodiments of the present inventioncould be used with other types of formulas, structures, andarrangements.

Applicants have discovered that embodiments described herein may beparticularly useful in connection with variable universal life insuranceproducts. Note, however, that other types of insurance products may alsobenefit from the invention.

The present invention has been described in terms of several embodimentssolely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art willrecognize from this description that the invention is not limited to theembodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications andalterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A computer-implemented method to facilitate administration of existing life insurance policies issued to consumers, comprising: determining a net amount at risk currently associated with an existing life insurance policy previously issued to a consumer for a given face death benefit amount; automatically selecting, by a computer, an applicable cost of insurance rate from a set of potential cost of insurance rates, to be applied to the net amount at risk currently associated with the consumer's life insurance policy, based at least in part on the determined net amount at risk; applying a cost of insurance rate different than the applicable cost of insurance rate to a portion of the net amount at risk currently associated with the consumer's life insurance policy; applying the applicable cost of insurance rate to a remaining portion of the net amount at risk currently associated with the consumer's life insurance policy; and transmitting an indication of the applicable cost of insurance rate.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the life insurance policy is a variable universal life insurance policy and said determining includes evaluating an account value currently associated with the policy.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining comprises: subtracting the account value currently associated with the policy from the given face death benefit amount.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said determining and adjusting are performed periodically, after an initial period, while the policy is in effect.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein said applying comprises: calculating a cost of insurance charge by (i) multiplying a first portion of the net amount at risk by the cost of insurance rate different than the applicable cost of insurance rate to a portion and (ii) multiplying a second portion of the current net amount at risk by the applicable cost of insurance rate, the first and second portions representing the entire net amount at risk.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting the applicable cost of insurance rate includes selecting a rate associated with a first tier when the current net amount at risk exceeds a threshold amount.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said determining and selecting are performed on a yearly basis, and selections performed in different years are based on different threshold amounts.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic selection is performed in accordance with a predetermined contractual agreement made between the consumer and the insurer at the time the life insurance policy was issued.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: automatically providing to the consumer an indication of at least one of: (i) a predicted cost of insurance rate or (ii) an applied cost of insurance rate.
 10. A computer-implemented method to facilitate administration of an existing life insurance policy issued to a consumer, comprising: periodically determining a net amount at risk currently associated with the life insurance policy, automatically selecting an applicable cost of insurance rate, from a set of potential cost of insurance rates, to be periodically applied to at least a portion of the net amount at risk currently associated with the consumer's life insurance policy, based at least in part on the determined net amount at risk, periodically and automatically calculating, by a computer, a cost of insurance charge by (i) multiplying a first portion of the current net amount at risk by a first cost of insurance rate and (ii) multiplying a second portion of the current net amount at risk by the automatically selected applicable cost of insurance rate, wherein the automatically selected applicable cost of insurance rate is different than the first cost of insurance rate, and transmitting an indication associated with the applicable cost of insurance rate.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the life insurance policy is a variable universal life insurance policy and said periodic determination includes evaluating an account value currently associated with the policy.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said periodic determination includes subtracting the account value currently associated with the policy from the given face death benefit amount.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the periodic determination and automatic selection are performed periodically, after an initial period, while the policy is in effect.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the automatic selection of the applicable cost of insurance rate includes selecting a rate associated with a first tier when the current net amount at risk exceeds a threshold amount.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the periodic determination and automatic selection are performed on a yearly basis, and selections performed in different years are based on different threshold amounts.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the automatic selection is performed in accordance with a predetermined contractual agreement made between the consumer and the insurer at the time the life insurance policy was issued.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: storing into a database, for a plurality of consumers, life insurance face amounts, current account values, and potential cost of insurance rates along with and associated threshold amounts.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: generating for potential customers, by a life insurance information module, life insurance face amounts, exemplary future account values, and potential cost of insurance rates along with threshold amounts.
 19. An apparatus to facilitate administration of existing life insurance policies, comprising: a communication device to receive information associated with a life insurance policy previously issued for a given face amount; a processor coupled to the communication device; and a storage device in communication with said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to: periodically determine a net amount at risk currently associated with the life insurance policy, determine an applicable cost of insurance rate to be periodically applied to at least a portion of the net amount at risk currently associated with the life insurance policy, based at least in part on the determined net amount at risk, periodically calculate a cost of insurance charge by (i) multiplying a first portion of the current net amount at risk by a first cost of insurance rate and (ii) multiplying a second portion of the current net amount at risk by the determined applicable cost of insurance rate, wherein the determined applicable cost of insurance rate is different than the first cost of insurance rate, and transmit an indication associated with the life insurance policy. 